Nicolás Maduro will not attend the UN General Assembly: which other leaders will not attend?

• World leaders adopted the Pact for the Future, a text that opens the door to a reform of the United Nations Security Council

The High-Level Week of the United Nations General Assembly will bring together leaders from all five continents. The presidents of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; China, Xi Jinping; and Russia, Vladimir Putin, will not attend this meeting.

The three leaders usually send their foreign ministers to the world diplomatic forum, which on this occasion begins on Tuesday, September 24 in New York (USA) to discuss issues of global interest.

The Venezuelan president does not usually attend any UN Assembly, while in Putin’s case the reason is the international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March 2023, which has restricted his movements around the world.

As for China, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi will participate in the General Assembly session as the special representative of the president.

Another leader who will not be attending the summit is King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who this year sent Prime Minister Aziz Ajanuch to deliver the speech on his behalf.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s participation has not been confirmed, despite being one of the most eagerly awaited appearances in New York after the conflict in Gaza, and now in Lebanon, have captured the world’s attention this year.

Photo: EFE/Justin Lane

Pact of the Future

On September 22, world leaders adopted at a previous UN meeting The Pact for the Futurea non-binding document that opens the door to a reform of the entity’s Security Council.

The Future Pact, which was to be approved by consensus and after 18 months of negotiations between member states, “will lay the foundations for a sustainable, just and peaceful world order for all peoples and nations,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his opening speech.

The Russian delegation opposed the Pact, arguing that there was no meeting where all delegations sat down to study the document paragraph by paragraph, and asked for an amendment to be included in the document.

This attempted amendment was verbally supported. in the extremes by other delegations such as that of Venezuela (also representing Iran and Syria), however the African Group (led by Congo) presented a motion to disregard the last-minute Russian manoeuvre.

The motion to exclude the Russian amendment was supported by 143 countries, with 15 abstentions and 7 votes against (Russia itself, Sudan, North Korea, Nicaragua, Iran, Syria and Belarus).

Most world leaders and representatives of foreign ministries from around the world expressed their satisfaction with the text.

Photo: ONU

Maduro’s presence at the UN

In the case of Venezuela, when the president does not attend the annual assemblies of the world organization, the responsibility falls on the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The UN General Assembly, which meets from September to December every year, last saw Maduro attend in 2018.

During his speech, the Venezuelan president expressed the need to create a multipolar world in which the “right to independence and existence of all peoples” is guaranteed.

In 2022, Maduro sent his speech in writing, which was read by the foreign minister at the time, Carlos Faría, at the 77th UN General Assembly, while in 2023, Foreign Minister Yván Gil did the same.

With information from EFE.

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